When you start an article on Masturbate it wont let you publish it because of sex, which is ridiculous. Masturbation is like the opposite of sex and we already have articles about actual sex! Having an article on Masturbation could bring in a lot of page views for wikiHow: http://www.google.com.au/trends/explore#q=masturbate%2C%20boil%20an%20egg%2C%20get%20a%20girlfriend&cmpt=q&tz=
I don’t mind writing the article, but perhaps a wanker should write it? Thoughts?
Perhaps you should take the inability to publish this proposed article as a BIG HINT that the wikiHow community has already dealt with this title and topic in the past… and the consensus was to NOT allow this topic to be written about on our site. Let’s not make wikiHow into a sex manual, eh?
+1 @Loiswade42
Also just because something might get a lot of views doesn’t mean we should start an article on that subject.
@LoisWade42
But I have already checked the forums for duplicate topics.
>Read the title >Thought it was an upcoming festival
@ Savas wikiHow is a community… we’ve been through most of these questions multiple times and over time have come to the consensus that we don’t want to be the equivalent of a sex manual. We’ve upgraded and changed the forums at least twice… so some of the earlier discussions were lost. You can, however, see the results of those discussions in the following pages: Deletion policy: http://www.wikihow.com/wikiHow:Deletion-Policy
“What wikiHow is NOT” http://www.wikihow.com/Understand-What-wikiHow-is-Not
and the Writer’s Guide: http://www.wikihow.com/wikiHow:Writer’s-Guide
@ Destroyer It’s not a freedom of speech issue. It’s more of a “This community has decided that we just don’t want to go there” consensus. Daniel’s comment “Just because it might get lots of views doesn’t mean we should start an article on it” above is a pretty good summation of the concept.
@Loiswade42
is quite right on this.
In my opinion, lot has changed on wikiHow. We deal with lots of topics such as http://www.wikihow.com/Pee-Yourself-as-a-Woman
that could be considered distasteful. We also have http://www.wikihow.com/Use-a-Condom
Also, there are lots of misconceptions about masturbation which a proper guide could dispel. Done carefully (and probably with admin protection) this article could be useful to a lot of people who turn to wikiHow for advice when trying to navigate those complicated teenage days. Perhaps it is time to reopen the discussion, as we have with so many other issues on wikiHow recently. The wikiHow community has changed a lot since the deletion policies were first discussed. Personally, I would draw the line at actual sex guides, but I don’t think masturbation is in the same league at all.
system
11
Seriously? Does anyone need to be TAUGHT how to masturbate? Just WHO would be the target audience of said article? Is there ANY conceivable situation which an article on this topic could even be considered “instructional” … rather than just being an attention getting / titilating / laughable joke topic?) Food for thought. My vote? Leave the young people of the world to fumble through on their own on this issue.
I’ve heard enough anecdotes to guess that some people need a little help
But on a serious note, when has a topic being “obvious” ever stopped us from writing an article about it? On further thought I’m probably thinking more along the lines of “How to Understand (the Myths About?) Masturbation”, which I presume would be a much less controversial topic. We have a few articles about stopping masturbating etc, which I think paints it in quite a negative light if you were looking for information on that topic. I’m not suggesting that the result of this discussion will be (or even should be) an article on this. But I think it’s important we do have these discussions on a periodic basis, as the demographics of the community changes. Saying that something is an “absolute no” because we discussed it a long time ago (almost a decade?) seems dangerous to me. Just look at how much things have changed in the real world over that time.
Laughing… one of our earlier editors had a cute saying that this discussion brought back to mind. “If a monkey can do it, we don’t need a wikiHow article for it”.
Well maybe we should go ahead and delete these then: http://www.wikihow.com/Breathe
http://www.wikihow.com/Climb-a-Tree
http://www.wikihow.com/Eat-an-Insect-or-Arachnid
Of course, I’m joking again, but we’re not monkeys, and as people and societies we attach more complex meanings and emotions to things such as masturbation than a monkey would. I’m not proposing that we actually write “How to Masturbate” with step-by-step instructions and full-blown illustrations, but perhaps an article on how to come to terms with it, as many people are confused when they first start, unsure of whether it is right or wrong etc. In my opinion we don’t have enough articles that show that it is an acceptable and healthy thing to do, only how to stop an “addiction” etc, and that means to me that we are (inadvertently) pushing a value base forward. Would an article such as that be deleted under the current policy? I can’t see any reason why.
I think if it were written in the manner you describe? We might have to protect it against vandalism from time to time… but it has a good chance of being kept none the less.
I didn’t delete… but perhaps someone else did?
@Destroyer
Admins delete my comments all the time, it is so annoying, but I am comforted to hear I am not the only one with that problem. I actually really like and agree with you. @Loiswade42
Masturbation is unique to humans, so I am not sure the point of that saying.
@Savas_P
Masturbation isn’t unique to humans I’m afraid
@MartynP
Oh yes, your right! Sorry, my friends are so stupid!
Dammit, there goes my “How to secretly murder your entire village” article :(.
